Arthur Stone Pierced Grape Design Sterling Silver Ice Tongs, early 20th century

One of the nicest flatware items we have seen from the Stone shop, these ice tongs are hand-pierced and hand-chased. Made from a single piece of heavy gauge silver , the handles have graceful curved sides which bow outwards.

Finely chased foliage with grapes appear to hang down the lengths of the handles. This intricate pattern required careful piercing with chased details for the clusters of grapes.

A fine line travels from the tops of these scenes down the edges of the handles and connects this design to another pierced and chased scene of foliage and grapes on the pads.

Arthur Stone himself did the chasing and piercing. The tongs were hand raised by specialist 'spoonmaker' Charles Brown, a master in his own right and a recipient of a bronze metal for his craftsmanship from the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts - one of only eight silversmiths to receive this prestigious award, the highest honor bestowed by the society.

These extremely rare ice tongs are marked on the back with Stone shop mark, 'STERLING", and with the sideways 'B' for Charles Brown. They measure 6.75 inches long, weighs 2.35 troy ounces, have never been monogrammed and are in outstanding condition.